By Alois Vinga
Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. A bid by the National Oil Company (NOIC) to fast track the dismissal of an employee who exposed corruption at the petroleum state enterprise has hit a snag following a Labour Court order setting aside the decision.
The NOIC employee who is also the Zimbabwe Petroleum and Allied Workers Union (ZIPAWU) president, Samuel Hova was suspended from duty on April 23, 2022 and subsequently dismissed for participating at a Press conference that exposed corruption within the parastatal.
This prompted Hova, through his legal representative, trade unionist Peter Mutasa, to approach the Labour Court seeking to overturn the unfair dismissal order.
The embattled employee sought to dismiss the illegality in the proceedings, gross unreasonableness in the decision, bias by the appeals committee against applicant and gross irregularity in the proceedings or decision.
Having considered submissions from both parties, Justice Godfrey Musariri considered that the Appeals Committee (AC) erred by dismissing the appeal on the basis that appellant had no right of appeal.
The learned judge said the sector’s Code of Conduct gives the employee a clear and unconditional right of appeal against any decision of the Disciplinary Committee.
Justice Musariri said the NOIC AC in essence, sought to apply the rules of procedure in courts of law which require a party to purge its default in order to be heard and ordered that with due respect quasi-judicial tribunals are not courts which are bound by strict rules of procedure.
“Their procedures need only comply with tenets of natural justice. Wherefore it is ordered that the application for review be and is hereby granted.
“The decision of the Appeals Committee be and is hereby set aside; the matter is remitted back to the AC for determination of the merits of the Appellant’s appeal to it within one month,” Justice Musariri ordered.
The court also ordered that if the Appeals Committee fails to comply with the order, Hova may appeal the underlying decision of the Disciplinary Committee to this Court.
Hova was targeted by the NOIC management after presiding over a press conference where he laid bare rampant corruption allegations taking place at NOIC.
He has since proceeded to file a report with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) imploring it to investigate NOIC chief executive officer Wilfred Matukeni.
Irked by his bravery of speaking the truth to power, NOIC management proceeded to suspend Hova from work without salary and benefits before subsequently convening a Disciplinary Hearing which partly charged him for wrongly putting the organisation’s name into disrepute.
During the hearings, the company’s management ordered him to remain silent and withdrew his right to tell his side of the story.
As if not enough, on the day the decision to dismiss him was made, Hova alleged the company’s management had informed him to appear at the Labour Ministry for the Conciliation process where he proceeded to.
Taking advantage of the confusion, the company took advantage of his absence and convened a hearing which ordered his absence.
When he attempted to appeal against the unfair conditions under which the dismissal was granted, NOIC authorities turned down the appeal arguing he had no such right.
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